Stage of Life members will receive discounts on Lenovo's entire product line. This includes savings from 5% to 20% off the web price on a variety of top products such as ThinkPad and IdeaPad laptops, and IdeaCentre desktops.

Get special upgrades, offers, and other perks AND receive a 4% vacation reward on your next cruise or resort vacation!To Redeem: Visit our cruise deals website to look for cruise packages and call 1-866-634-6185 toll-free to get a vacation quote. Use coupon code STAGE OF LIFE

My thoughts on Newtown: America, wake up

The recent tragedy in Newtown has shaken many Americans to the core. It is a truly frightening thing to realize that something so awful could happen in a town so similar to my own, to twenty children whose innocent smiles are so reminiscent of my little brother’s own gap-toothed grin. The shooting at Sand Hook Elementary is a tragedy that demands to be heard. We cannot move on with our lives until a change is sought after regarding gun control. Aurora, Oak Creek, Virginia Tech: how many more shootings must we endure before America wakes up?

The United States Constitution has served our country well over the years, but over the 226 years since its creation, we have had to make changes to fit modern day conditions. After all, the Constitution was written by seventy gentlemen in 1787, a time in which guns could only fire one bullet before they needed reloading, and semi-automatic weapons like that carried by Adam Lanza did not exist.

While America is a national leader in progressive thinking, politicians have made minimal progress regarding gun control laws. As the gun lobby in the US gains power, it seems politicians may not take steps to counter it. However, it is time for Americans to spare ourselves our dignity and look to other countries’ examples.

Australia, along with many Western European countries, have reformed their gun control laws in the last few decades. After a violent massacre in 1996, Australia instituted a new policy on gun registration and ownership. The process can take more than a year to complete background checks and collect information on the mental health of the prospective owner. Australian murders have decreased at a considerable rate since 1996, and there has not been a mass shooting since 1996. Western European countries, too, have experienced a decrease in homicides since their new implementations; total homicides total less than a quarter of the United State’s.

Many citizens consider limiting gun control as a deterrence of freedom. Yet the “freedom” the second amendment guarantees for gun-owners has only locked the rest of the population in a dreadful, imprisoning fear. I cannot attend a high school football game without having my purse searched for a weapon. Two weeks ago a student threatened to bring a gun to school in response to being bullied. Living in a constant state of foreboding suspicion that at any time someone could produce a concealed weapon is by no means what I would call “freedom.”

The heartbreak that America has experienced from the bloodbath in Newtown shows that legislators must take immediate action regarding gun control. Americans must realize that freedom is not defined by the ability to own a gun, but by the guarantee of safety and the ability to pursue a lifetime of happiness- an opportunity the children of Sandy Hook could not live to see fulfilled.

As tragic as this is, how many kids each year are killed by drunk drivers, negligent parents, drug or alcohol overdoses? Yet we accept these realities?! Those old gentlemen carved our constitution so that you and I can express our opinions...freely! I have owned many guns for many years and not once have I ever considered doing such a sick act! What scares the hell out of me, is when a kid sees a real gun for the first time and can only compare the experience to the guns he choses on his favorte video game, to kill virtual players!! What!?

Guns dont kill people! People kill people! The title to this essay was accurate...we all need to really wake up! The glamorization of killing eachother in Hollywood and video games seems to me to be more of a fatal flaw in society, wouldn't you agree? Thank God for the constitutional freedom for you to be able to express your feelings on such an important topic. It was well done!

My name is Laura and I'm an intern at Stage of Life. I wanted to thank you for submitting your story to our "Where Do We Go After Newtown" writing contest, but more importunately, I want to congratulate you on being selected by our Editors as an essay finalist!

Writing Contest Archive - Students

Writing Contests and Teen Trend Reports

Below you will find all of the monthly writing contests and teen trend reports from the last five years hosted by StageofLife.com. Our dedication to digital literacy efforts have reached over 1,000,000 students and teachers in the last half decade, received mention on TIME.com, and features in the news. Feel free to click through and read the top essay submissions from any given month. StageofLife.com is honored to be one of the most-visited writing contests for students in the world. We love working with you as we celebrate the journey as life-long readers and writers...

2010 Writing Contests

Why We Do This: Stories connect us. At StageofLife.com we believe that we can change the world . . . one story at a time. By sharing your experiences and thoughts on your stage of life, you can touch the lives of so many others. Just ask over 1,000,000 visitors we've welcomed since our little grassroots idea took off. Experience our digital literacy mission and share your story to change the world...

Saving Money: Besides sharing and reading the stories, explore our exclusive discounts with national brands who partner with our financial literacy mission to help people save money throughout their lives. We have special discounts tailored to your life stage. Some of our core coupons and promo codes include...

8% off Applebee's gift cards

8% off IHOP gift cards

15% off Spa & Wellness gift cards by SpaWeek

25% off online orders with Papa John's

and many more!

Search: With 25,000+ pages and life stories uploaded from people across the world, you may need to search StageofLife.com:

WritingContests

Essay

Winners

Twitter
Contest

Teen
Trends

Education

Vocab

Teachers

Store

About Us

Press

Statistics

Finances

Quotes

Blogging

Videos

Etiquette

Entertain

Coupons

Travel

Wellness

Set Goals

Ages

Top Ten

Contact

Our Blog

Like

Follow

Pin

Watch

Email

Photos

Google+

Daily Word

fanatical

(adj.) full of great enthusiasm or devotion
Writing Prompt Idea: Use this word in a blog or story post about your life here on StageofLife.com. View past Words of the Day to amp up your vocabulary, and don't forget to check out all of our free writing resources.

Enter Writing Contests - August 2015

Writing contest details: Did you know over 60% of families will take a summer vacation? This month, the movie release of the sequel to the 1980's hit, National Lampoon's Vacation, hit the theaters too. For our August 2015 writing contest, we want you to share one specific memory (funny, sad, poignant, scary) from a family vacation. For full writing prompt details and prizes for the essay winner...

Twitter Contests

How creative can you be in 140 characters? Enter the Stage of Life "Short Short Story" Writing Contest on Twitter. The best Tweet each month receives a gift card from our education sponsors.

Saving Money

Stage of Life features over 100 special coupons and discounts, tailored by life stage, for our online community. From Applebee's to Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, explore the special offers we've lined up just for you...

Mobile StorytellingStage of Life launched one of the first mobile storytelling websites. Enter our writing contests, or read and share your stories anytime, from anywhere, using your smart phone.

Just visit www.StageofLife.com from the browser in your mobile phone. Let's write!

Writing Prize Sponsors

Details: Did you know that over 500,000 students and teachers visit and use StageofLife.com each school year? As the world's largest collection of cross-generational stories, blog posts, and essays from teens to Baby Boomers (and older!), we're proud to provide free writing resources in an environment that encourages people of all ages to write...whether that's via our Twitter writing contests or international essay competitions.

We'd like to thank Applebee's, IHOP, Papa John's, and SpaWeek for providing the gift card prizes we use for our Twitter and writing contests each month. Please support these literacy and education-friendly partners...and submit your essays and Tweets for a chance to win a gift card!

My Life Rewards®: Don't forget to check out our list of secondary sponsors who provide our reading and writing community special coupons and discounts. Visit our free My Life Rewards® member benefit page for those special offers.

About Us

Stories connect us. At StageofLife.com we believe that we can change the world . . . one story at a time. By sharing your own experiences and thoughts on your stage of life, you can touch the lives of so many others. Just ask the over 1,000,000 visitors we've welcomed since our launch. Share your story and change the world. Pick a life stage above and start exploring the site.

Thanks to Lenovo's generous support as one of our literacy sponsors - StageofLife.com student, educator, parent, and blogging members receive discounts on its entire product line. This includes savings from 5% to 20% off the web price on a variety of top products such as ThinkPad and IdeaPad laptops, and IdeaCentre desktops.

If you need a new laptop for college or school, compare the Stage of Life member pricing from Lenovo to get...

Support Literacy Development

As a free, education-focused writing initiative, UMB CardPartner is the proud sponsor of the Stage of Life Visa® Platinum Card. Apply for your VISA card to support the literacy, blogging and educational campaigns on StageofLife.com.

College Loan Options

As a national, educational, literacy initiative, StageofLife.com works closely teens and teachers...hundreds of thousands of them in fact. Because of this, we are in the fortunate position to bring our teen and college student users exciting benefits ranging from special offers and discounts for students to great rates on college loans and financing from the Smart Loan Option from Sallie Mae...

Resources

StageofLife.com is an education-based, grassroots, non-partisan, free blogging community with a mission support digital literacy by making the world a better place, one story, essay, and blog at a time. Stage of Life users (teens, college students, Millennials, Gen Y, Gen X, and Baby Boomers) can share and archive their life stories via their Stage of Life profile page. Specialized content includes literacy resources, free lesson plans, writing prompts for Language Arts teachers, monthly writing contests for high school students (and older generations), student blogging initiatives, blog directories, and financial literacy tools - including Life Rewards® - our free discount program for all Stage of Life users, readers and writers dedicated to providing printable coupons and coupon codes tailored towards each stage of life.